Monday, March 16, 2009

Umbrage taken, plus more gratitude

You know what's really irritating? To find out Youtube has muted the video because you had a song on while you made the video. Plus they don't even bother to tell you. Yesterday when I was uploading the video, I purposely did not mention that Rihanna's Disturbia was playing in the description of the video. That's because one time when I mentioned the artist and song for a collage I did of the gay pride festival here, the actual band took umbrage and requested it be removed. Youtube kindly offered to replace the soundtrack with something uncopyrighted. So now I try not to mention the music. But when I scrolled through my past videos yesterday, I saw that the song Urgent that I lipsynched for y'all had been muted, and they didn't even tell me. Sheesh. Oh sure you can see dozens of people mangle the song karaoke-ing Urgent. But you can't listen to it while watching my video. (I suppose you could play it yourself and try to match to the screen though.) THEN, I saw that the New York collage that I did had been flagged, and I got this screen:

I didn't mention the song at all in that one, so they must have some crawling music-matching robots poring over the videos to detect copyright infringement. No problem if you mangle their song, just don't play the original. The absurdity of ego, and lawyers of course.

On a brighter note, I got a really nice letter this weekend that I wanted to share.

There are many different kinds of blogs, some are about the person: I did this, I did that, I met this person. You know...me, me and little bit more about me. Some are more journals of discovery: I felt this, I thought that, I learned this. Some are political: I believe this, I don't believe that. Your blog is all of these and more, it is informative, fun and interesting. I cannot tell you how many things I've lifted from your blog and printed out to hang on the refrigerator, in the bathroom etc. I think it was seeing the pictures of Montreal that you've posted and reading about your adventures across the city that rekindled the desire to visit there again, not having been there for at least 15 years or more. Would I have done this, made plans to visit the city, made reservations at this restaurant if your blog hadn't been there? Probably not, because your blog is unique.

Most of us tend to minimize our affect on the world around us. It's only after someone passes away that we look at their past life and see all the people who were affected by it. That recently happened to me with my mom. I looked around at all the people at the viewing, from all the different places and times in her life, and I realized what a vast reach she had. In the midst of my sorrow I realized that she would have loved it, she would have loved seeing all the those people talking to each other, trading stories and catching up. And who's to say she wasn't there enjoying every second of it?

Not wanting to be too deep, because a blog should be a fun thing to do, you send out ripples. They travel across miles and borders and cultures. Most go on and play themselves out, some encounter another object along the way and slightly transform that object or themselves. That's what your blog does and I want to let you know how much I appreciate it everyday.

Merci,

Carl

And if that wasn't enough (it was, I was deeply grateful to receive such feedback) yesterday's post seemed to help another fellow in town. I like the idea that I'm putting positive energy into the world. Knowing that, it makes plugging along on this here blog thingy that much easier. And it's a great way to start this week, the VERY last one of the winter, YAY!

14 comments:

Anonymous
said...

You're Blog is a bright spot in a dismal swamp of mediocre drivel. Because it is real life and often a fun time. I'll never cross the Jacque Cartier Bridge but now I have an idea what it is like. The Bread looks like it was store bought which is a great complement in my book.You're stories Poo are down to earth and honest. If you're Blog was to go away, it would leave an empty place in the universe. Like a giant Pine tree flaring in the wind that when hewn down leaves an empty place against the sky. ed

Garsh....I'm more accustomed to seeing things I've written appearing in a "how not to write emails" session at work.

Hey, there's a good blog topic: How some things that work in real life don't always translate into work life.

If I brightened up your day, that's a small return on all the times I've been pleasantly affected by something I'd read on your blog. I still have the How To Pee Properly sign hanging over the toilet in my bathroom. No one's followed it, though, I'm sad to report. But it does look like someone whizzed on it. At least it got a reaction.

What a lovely note! And wonderful too that aMMusing followed your wisdom [I enjoyed him blog post]. Torn, it's good to live life in a way that makes you true to yourself which you do, and in doing so it's great to see that others do pick up on your energy.

Wow! I can think of no greater validation or motivation than the letter and post you've shared today. Indeed, you ARE putting positive energy out into the Universe; positive energy that's obviously needed by many who read your blog.